Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 5,304,727 Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,304,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $287,361,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Brookfield Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth about $204,169,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,997,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,507,000 after buying an additional 2,031,995 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,122,000. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,664,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,323,000 after buying an additional 1,359,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Brookfield Asset Management by 5,331.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 351,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,032,000 after acquiring an additional 344,739 shares during the period. 68.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of BAM opened at $48.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.50. Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $62.61.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 54.47% and a return on equity of 81.16%. Analysts anticipate that Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Brookfield Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 132.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Brookfield Asset Management from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.38.

Brookfield Asset Management Profile

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a real estate investment firm specializing in alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the operates in the hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and sustainable solution sector. The company's infrastructure business engages in the utilities, transport, midstream, and data infrastructure sectors.